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ontinuing spills of volcanic ash and tremors from Mount Merapi have prevented numerous foreigners from flying to Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Hadi Sutrisno, coordinator of Bali Travel Agencies, said Friday many visitors had canceled their holidays in Yogyakarta and decided to stay longer in Bali.

Yogyakarta is the second favorite destination after Bali for visitors from the European Union (EU), Japan, Australia and Southeast Asian countries.

Visitors usually arrive in Bali and spend days on the island before heading to Yogyakarta, Central Java, Sumatra and other destinations.

Bali received 2 million foreign tourists and 4 million domestic travelers in 2009.

“Our members said their guests had extended their stays in Bali, thereby increasing the average occupancy rates of hotels here,” said Sutrisno.

In November, a supposedly low season, four- and five-star hotels in Kuta, Nusa Dua and Jimbaran in Badung regency reported high occupancy rates of around 70 percent.

Aloysius Purwa, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (Asita)’s Bali chapter, said the increasing number of visitors canceling their trips to Merapi-stricken areas was because of the closure of Adisutjipto International Airport in Yogyakarta.

A few days after the first major eruption of Mt. Merapi on Oct. 26, Yogyakarta’s Adisutjipto International Airport, which welcomed 5,000 to 6,000 passengers a day, closed and will remain closed until Monday, Nov. 15.

Asita’s Yogyakarta branch earlier announced that the closing of Adi-sutjipto airport several days ago
due to the eruption of Mount Merapi had drastically affected the tourism industry in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Yogyakarta attracted around 500,000 foreign visitors in 2009 and 1 million domestic tourists, especially during school and religious holidays.

“Only less than 35 percent of foreign visitors are still here,” commented Asita’s chairman Edwin Ismedi as quoted by Antara.

A number of international flights, including AirAsia, had opened a direct Singapore-Yogyakarta route. Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Lion Air and other airlines have also rerouted their flights to nearby airports in Surakarta and Semarang in Central Java.

Heru Legowo, general manager of airport management company Angkasa Pura at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali, previously confirmed that several flights to Yogyakarta were canceled due to the eruption.